High entrance signs!

[Skeet]

Pards, I was at a dedication at Cross Keys on August 20th for the new highway signs. There will be 18 highway signs that will be along major highways reading Shenandoah Valley battlefields National Historic District. There are 3 sign sizes-10.5by14,7.5by10 and 6.5by7.5. The sizes varies by the importance of the highway. Senator Allen gave a great speech on the importance of battlefield preservation. Bully, Cpl Dan Morgan 10thVA(IVR)

[BerkeleyBorderGuard]

Re: High entrance signs!

Balanced growth

Notes from the Press

Chris Graham

chris@augustafreepress.com

http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$25445

August 26, 2004

The Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation chose Victory Hill in Cross Keys in Rockingham County as the backdrop for an announcement last week regarding a new highway-signage program that it hopes will guide tourists to Civil War-era hot spots in the Valley.

The location is significant, given what the Virginia Department of Transportation is looking at doing just a mile up Port Republic Road at its intersection with Va. 276.

"We're not sure where the bypass would go through exactly, but when you start taking into account where they can't go with it, the area where they have some breathing room gets narrower and narrower," said Kim Sandum, president of the Community Alliance for Preservation, which has been working with Rockingham residents to try to drum up support for alternatives to VDOT's plans for an Interstate 81 bypass that would bisect the southern and eastern portions of the county most likely along the Va. 276 corridor.
By all accounts, the bypass would impact in at least some way on the Cross Keys Battlefield - where Confederate forces under the command of Gen. Richard Ewell defeated federal troops under the leadership of Gen. John Fremont in a battle that played a key role in the early successes of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign.

"I think it's wonderful that efforts are being made at preserving this battlefield historic area and other historic areas like it," Sandum said.
"This location in particular is noteworthy because the surrounding area is still involved in agriculture. You don't have trees growing up blocking views, or subdivisions changing the nature of the area in a different way. You can still look all around and see, to a great extent, what the soldiers who fought here in the Civil War saw," Sandum said.

At the same time, Sandum said, "it seems like we're working at cross purposes sometimes," referring to the clash of preservation on the one hand and growth and sprawl on the other.

"In some ways, we're headed in the right direction, with efforts such as these," she said.

And then you can look a few miles up Port Republic Road in the direction of Harrisonburg, "and it's like we're cutting ourselves off at the knees," she said, referencing the spate of residential-housing growth in the Port Republic Road corridor in the direction of the Friendly City.

"There has to be some way we can reach a happy medium," Sandum said.


Chris Graham is the co-publisher of The Augusta Free Press.

[Skeet]

Re: High entrance signs!

I live about 200 yards from Victory hill and this is in my back yard. The loop road has been an issue for several years. The area is shrinking very quickly! That's why I have nominated this area as one of the most endangered sites. All you have to do is see the massive golf course being built and housing development. Why is golf so popular? Anyway, that's why we are trying to bring as much attention to this area as possible. Respectfully, Cpl Dan Morgan10thVA(IVR)